All posts by Rama Schneider

Good morning …

The Douglas administration has decided that Enron Entergy Louisiana can give birth to a new corporate entity that will take ownership of Entergy Yankee. Entergy says they need to do this because apparently their current business model doesn’t allow them to tend to the proper running of Entergy Yankee (State reaches deal with Yankee, Times Argus, 10/09/09) I’m absolutely positive the new spin off built on borrowed money will be sooooo different … maybe the new name can be Fairpoint? Oh, right, that’s already taken.

Down in our nation’s capitol the DC Dems of Senate Judiciary Committee (you know … Leahy) have helped keep us under constant police surveillance by passing on to the floor a “no changes” set of changes to the UNPATRIOTIC Act. The Dems claim to victory? The same weasel Dems who kowtowed away the cheney/bush years when it came to protecting the American people from a police state wannabe will be … well … protecting us. (Committee approves Patriot Act changes, Times Argus, 10/09/09)

On the front page of today’s Times Argus is a story about a young bear being hit on the interstate, and on the “Local & State” front page is a picture of a (apparently formerly imprisoned) goat standing on a rocky ledge overlooking route 2 in Berlin. Kind of a sad juxtaposition of modern man rushing ahead without concern for what we do to our fellow Earth travelers and what must have been a Papillon like escape from the clutches of this very same humanity.

Thankfully a judge agrees that Barre Town’s select board and police department violated Kathy Rubalcaba, her property and most senses of decency. The Barre Town military showed up at her property the other day to steal several hens (miss-identified as roosters by Barre Town’s chicken expert) along with one juvenile (really a) rooster. Yesterday Judge Geoffrey Crawford said uh-uh … give ’em back, do some arbitration and come back to me with the results. (Judge sends roosters back to coop, scolds town officials, Times Argus, 10/09/09)

And in closing I’m sure Vermont’s education commissioner Armando Vilaseca is a really nice guy dedicated to doing his job with a high level of informed professionalism. But he’s missing the point again: while it is absolutely true that some reasons for wanting to rid a district of a teacher or administrator should not under any circumstances be kept a secret; Vilaseca’s whole push to strangle our local education system with centralized command and control will only aggravate the situations he seeks to address. (Restoring trust after the Bryer case, Times Argus, 10/09/09) One of the reasons to push for continued local and empowered school boards is local accountability … folks want to know they can have concerns regarding their kids addressed by people known to them … and easily accessible … and responsive. Make sure we on the school boards have the information to act on and the authority to act on that information.

[Added as an after thought]

Talk about premature acclamation! Seems President Obama gets the Nobel Peace Prize. ‘The Nobel Committee said he was awarded it for “his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and co-operation between peoples”.’ Me? I think I’ll wait on that sort of rhetorical ejaculate. Afghanistan, Iraq and Iran are still right where the cheney/bush administration put ’em … on the war list. Obama could prove himself up to this award, but he hasn’t yet … let’s let time help us make a sober judgement.

Don’t think this is fascism? You’re wrong …

The classical definition of fascism is a melding of business/corporation and state further combined with a militant foreign policy.

Your ears should certainly prick to attention when you read

President Obama scored a big victory on Thursday as the Senate Finance Committee rejected a proposal to require pharmaceutical companies to give bigger discounts to Medicare on drugs dispensed to older Americans with low incomes.

(Senate Panel Rejects Bid to Add Drug Discount, NY Times, 09/25/09)

The rejected proposal apparently would have brought in over $100 billion (a thousand thousand thousand dollars) over the next decade in Medicare savings via drug purchases rebates.

In arguing against the proposal, [DC Democratic Senator] Carper said, White House officials told him that “a deal is a deal,” and he agreed.

(ibid)

Yeah, a deal with big corporate daddies is a deal, but for you and me? The middle finger. (And don’t forget this is the DC “leadership” Leahy, Sanders and Welch continue to fawn over.)

Hey … now all we need is a huge military complex on the home front to keep the war machine working overseas!

Oh, we already have that?

Shit.

Lies my newspaper told me and the ongoing Honduran coup …

(thanks to Common Dreams and FAIR for helpful pointers)

In late June of ’09 the AP was saying this about the political struggle in Honduras:

Sunday’s referendum has no legal effect: it merely asks people if they want to have a later vote on whether to convoke an assembly to rewrite the constitution.

(Honduras heads toward crisis over referendum, Guardian (Brit), 06/26/09)

It didn’t take long, as the Common Dreams post above states, for that refrain to change to one of Zelaya actually trying to change the constitution and install himself as president forever.

But the lies my newspaper don’t stop there ….

In a USA Today article titled Honduran soldiers ring deposed leader’s refuge, the AP further misleads by mindlessly repeating the words of the coup installed self proclaimed Honduran president: “”Coups do not allow freedom of assembly,” [coup benefactee Micheletti] wrote in a column published Tuesday in The Washington Post. “They do not guarantee freedom of the press, much less a respect for human rights. In Honduras, these freedoms remain intact and vibrant.”

Fact checking that claim would have been as easy as … oh … maybe checking out this news piece from “The Real News”:

It’s time my newspapers stop lying to me.

Because these lies shouldn’t be left to grow …

Welch voted a big “fuck you” at the low and moderate income advocacy group ACORN by voting (along with many, many other DC Dems) to go along with the vicious attacks on ACORN and to appease his “good freinds” from the radical, dishonest and racist political right. Leahy and Sanders merely purred their invectives with weasel words in twin Burlington Free Press opeds. Neither partner in the P & B show could find it within themselves to say “These vicious smears against a group of hard working, honest Americans are nothing but lies and slander.”

Obviously the vast majority of Americans are being pissed on by the DC Dems … yet one more time.

But we need to keep in mind what the reality is … because reality might just make the difference someday … so …

Here’s a great little study done by a professor of journalism and professor of politics titled Manipulating the Public Agenda: Why ACORN Was in the News, and What the News Got Wrong

This study, which received no outside funding from any organization, analyzed the complete 2007-2008 coverage of ACORN by 15 major news media organizations, and the narrative frames of their 647 stories during that period. The news media analyzed include the four the highest circulation national newspapers-USA Today, New York Times, Washington Post, and the Wall Street Journal-and an analysis of the transcripts of reports from leading broadcast news organizations: ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox News Channel, CNN, MSNBC, National Public Radio (NPR), and NewsHour with Jim Lehrer (PBS). We also analyzed stories from three local newspapers representing cities in which ACORN has a long-time presence: the Cleveland Plain Dealer, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, and Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

Here’s a bit from the Bradblog that presents us with a great journalistic piece from Rachel Maddow.

Don’t think ACORN matters in Vermont? You’re wrong; these attacks against ACORN are the same attacks being carried out against any real health care insurance reforms. These smears against ACORN are intended to help keep the necks of the vast majority of Americans firmly under the jack booted heels of the rich and well connected.

So let’s not follow in the footsteps of Welch, Leahy and Sanders. Don’t let the lies grow.

The Saturday morning smile …

Federal regulators next week are expected to seek to turn controversial “net neutrality” principles into formal rules intended to give the nation’s computer users the right to use whatever services and devices they like without interference from their ISPs.

(FCC Expected To Announce Support of Net Neutrality Monday, Wired, 09/18/09)

This is (Hey Bernie) HUUUOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOGE! (If indeed it really comes to pass.) Having ISPs serve us as (hopefully, someday) virtual autobahns while leaving it up to us how to make use of those highways is, I believe, democracy’s last gasp … we may get off the ventilator yet.

The downside? As pointed out in this thread regarding Entergy Yankee and nuclear monitoring, it’s all in who crafts the rules of the road.

Nonetheless I will celebrate if indeed we get a formal federal declaration of net neutrality.

More stupidity from the DC Democrats …

So ACORN, the group that has reported employees who engaged in voter registration fraud to the police and pointed out problematic registration forms, is being dumped on by the DC Democrat led federal government.

Seems the DC Democrat led House and Senate agree that an organization who reports an attempt at fraudulent use of their services (irrefutable evidence here) and promptly fires employees who engaged in questionable activities just doesn’t deserve anything but scorn.

Thank you DC Democrats … when measured in end results you really are not much different than the radical, right wing liars AKA the Republican Party.

They really don’t disagree …

According to this story from NPR 73% of doctors surveyed want a public health insurance option. (Survey published in the New England Journal of Medicine and funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.)

So what did the US House waste time on yesterday? Why the “censure” of Republican Representative Joe Wilson!

Every minute blown off on telling someone not to interrupt the president’s speech could have been used to hammer home these twin realities: the public overwhelmingly supports a government run, public health insurance option (77% felt the public option was important or very important in this survey); and doctors overwhelmingly support a government run, public health insurance option.

But what the fuck does the public in general or doctors specifically know? None of us are insurance industry lobbiests.

Actually I think it all just goes to prove a point I’ve made on a reasonably regular basis: the DC Democrats and their “leadership” really don’t disagree with the Republicans on very much … and nothing of game changing import.

They would much rather tend to big money’s interests with distracting moans about Obama being called a liar then they would tend to the people’s business.

Teaching to retirement (funds)

The Vermont teachers’ retirement fund has found plenty of front page space recently especially with calls from Governor Douglas to sluff it off wholesale onto the local property tax rolls. In today’s Barre/Montpelier Times Argus (Retirement funding tops agenda for new NEA chief, Times Argus, 09/14/09) new Vt NEA chief Martha Allen keeps pace with vocal disdain for recent attempts to review the system claiming “They are out to eliminate our pension system as we know it”.

The easy, comfortable solutions to this mess won’t work. I think the true answer lies in the uncomfortable and unknown which requires a different story line entirely.

Face it: teachers are invaluable parts of our educational system, and teachers in general deserve to have compensation commensurate with their experience and education and abilities.

Face it: unlike legislators and governors who are able to increase their salaries more or less in the dark, employees of Vermont’s various governments are generally held up to the public spotlight and discussion at salary negotiation time. Rightfully so in the latter … too bad the prior don’t have the courage to do so too.

Now we can get to the murky part …

First: the Vermont State Teachers Retirement System (VSTRS) is defined by state law (Title 16, Chapter 55) and administered under the auspices of Vermont’s State Treasurer by a board of varied sources (VSTRS Board of Trustees, State Treasurer’s site). Local school districts and supervisory unions have no power or decision making regarding this retirement fund. We (I’m currently serving on Williamstown’s school board) don’t set retirement, contribution, payout or any other rates.

There is some cloudiness in this in that supervisory districts do negotiate teacher salaries which does directly affect post-retirement payouts; but state law has so successfully insulated retirement from year to year salary negotiations that we end up with decisions in these two arenas being made in literal isolation.

The above by itself should have all the anti-unfunded mandate freaks screaming in anger when it comes to any attempt to push any part of the retirement fund onto the shoulders of local tax payers. I fall under the aforementioned category, and I know I’m at the alarmed hair pulling stage.

Unless, of course, the whole idea behind Douglas’ push was to send the money along to pay for the move … but that never was the intent behind the rhetoric.

One concept that has gained a certain amount of public currency is a statewide teachers contract. This would have the advantage of bringing the retirement and salaries systems to the same table at the same time, but it would also leave local communities totally at the mercy of state government regarding how education is delivered.

Not many years ago Williamstown was lucky enough to have a dedicated town resident who also had a wide range of education, knowledge and direct experience. Bill volunteered his services to the community by offering to teach a course in international events, and the Williamstown school board gratefully accepted his offer and expertise. The teachers’ union complained under the guise that Bill’s volunteer activity meant a certified (ie. union) teacher did not get a job because of Bill’s activities and thus contractual obligations were violated.

In the end the court’s sided against the union view, but imagine now a state teachers’ contract that arbitrarily decides no town can use volunteer teachers under any circumstance.

A state wide contract would also eliminate any possibility for local districts to offer anything beyond cash compensation … hire at the state’s prescribed wages or go without … end of story. Suppose a district comes up with an innovative educational process that teachers would almost pay to take part in (for their own professional development for instance)? Too bad … the state decided.

No, I don’t see bringing contract negotiations to the state level as being to anybody’s benefit other than the General Assembly and Governor’s office. They would get the power to dictate even more than already exists.

The easy, comfortable solutions to dealing with a burgeoning fiscal obligation aren’t going to work well for Vermont’s communities, and doing nothing will only make matter more untenable vis-a-vis the Vermont State Teachers Retirement System.

Here’s what I propose: end the statewide defined benefits retirement package for teachers’ retirement and engage in educational choice.

The first half is a fairly simple, even if distasteful to the fund’s membership, process. Move from defined benefits to a contribution system. A teacher gets out the actuarial (am I misusing that word?) value of what they put in. All people currently in the defined benefits system would be moved immediately over to the contribution system with allowances made for the current value of their retirement as defined under current law … complex financial equations but simple for those with appropriate computers and bookkeeping skills.

Doing this would alleviate any concerns over FUTURE needs. We, Vermont, would still be rightfully on the hook for catching up to what things should be today.

The other uncomfortable part of my prosal, educational choice, would give local school districts greater leeway in both the content and manner of education. This could be, for example, doing away with most state and federal mandated standards and letting the towns decide which standards make the most sense and work the best for them. Another possibility is to keep the mandated standards but drop the age/grade level correlation so students could progress at a pace that makes more sense to them. A student gifted in reading and writing but having problems with math and US history should not be kept back from advancing in reading and writing simply because of a lack in other subject matter.

I like this second option: forget the concept that you graduate high school at age 18. One should be graduating when the time is ripe whether it’s at 17 years old or 60. Meet the standards and receive a diploma.

An advantage with this educational choice approach regarding teachers’ retirement and salaries is local schools would now be able to offer something of substance beyond cash rewards. A young teacher, for instance, may find a low paying job in Vermont to be preferred because that young teacher can learn and develop in ways that aren’t available elsewhere.

Of course this would increase demands on local school boards and administrations. But that’s why we’re here, isn’t it?

So how would I phrase my proposal? Pick up a funnel. Normally we pour our liquids into the wide end of the funnel so everything is directed to the small opening. Our intention is to place the liquid in a very specific spot.

Now turn that funnel over. Imagine pouring the liquid into the small opening so we can let it pour out over a larger, unknown area. This is my picture of a successful education: we don’t know all of what folks will need to know in 20 or 30 years. But we do know there are some fundamentals that will allow the future to understand what it is they need to know and how to learn what they need to know. Let’s focus on those fundamentals (ie. pour into the small hole) so, as the need arises, the future can learn what it needs to know (flow out the wide hole).

We should be reforming by inverting our educational funnels.

And when we start thinking this way, we can start finding sensible answers to the fiscal issues running amuck with the teachers’ retirement fund. We can disconnect entirely the link between local supervisory union salary negotiations and the state law making process vis-a-vis teachers’ retirement. We can offer teachers something of value in place of the comfort that comes from a state guaranteed defined benefits package.

We can do and be better.